01.31.10 -- Keep An I On It!

Metropolis, 1927

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

KEEP AN EYE ON IT!, Puzzle by Tony Orbach and Andrea Carla Michaels, edited by Will Shortz

Ol’ Blue Eyes, SINATRA leads off this crossword full of eyes and I’s. We’ve NEZ (73A. It’s just below les yeux), a POUCH (53A. Something under a tired eye, maybe), a TECH (86A. Private eye), 110A. Eye TEST, OP ART (58D. Eye-twisting display), STYES (60D. Sights on sore eyes?), a DOPER (67D. One who may have red eyes), a PIC (117D. It may have redeye) and NORAH Jones who sang “Sunrise / Looks like morning in your eyes”.

However, I is what we’re asked on which to keep an eye. An interrelated group of nine across entries are familiar phrases given an extra letter I (and question-marked clues) to create a new wacky phrase.

• THE WIZARD OF IDI (23. Sorcerer behind Amin’s rise to power?), from the comic;
• TAXI EVASION (33. Dodging midtown traffic?), that‘s how Capone was caught;
• YOU CAN CALL ME ALI (41. 1964 Cassius Clay announcement?), formerly a song by Paul Simon;
• COMMON SENSEI (57. Average karate instructor?), I‘m thinking Thomas Paine;
• OPEN WIDE AND SAY AHI (66. “Yummy! Here comes your tuna sashimi!”?), not for me;
• JEDI CLAMPETT (78. Lightsaber-wielding hillbilly of TV?), never saw the series;
• MARTINI AND LEWIS (91. Invitation to cocktails with pianist Ramsey?), Dean and Jerry;
• LANAI TURNER (100. Rotisserie on a Hawaiian porch?), the sweater girl;
• ARE WE THERE YETI (118. Cranky question on the Himalayan trail?), yes.

Remaining across -- 8. Forlorn, BEREFT; 14. Chatty Cathy, GAS BAG; 20. Overdress, maybe, SMOTHER; 21. “Yours” alternative, AS EVER; 22. “Bam!” chef, EMERIL; 25. Brand X, NO NAME; 28. Sage, SOLON; 27. “Top Gun” planes, MIGS; 28. Sore, TENDER; 30. “Come STA?” (“How are you?,” in Italy); 31. Military wear, KHAKI; 35. TAIPEI 101, world’s tallest building, 2004-07, now it’s BURJ KHALIFA at over a half-mile high; 38. Suicide squeeze result, for short, RBI; 40. “LA LA Means I Love You” (1968 Delfonics hit); 46. Aspiring atty.’s hurdle, LSAT; 50. Put in, ADDED; 51. Kind of tour, for short, uso; 52. Coach ARA Parseghian; 54. Suffix on era names, ZOIC; 55. Calls of port?, AYS; 61. The Jackson 5 had five, AFROS; 63. “The Black Cat” writer, POE; 64. Long-distance call letters, ATT; 85. “48 HRS”; 71. ANN Taylor of apparel; 74. “Catch-22” bomber pilot, ORR; 76. Boston-to-Washington speedster, ACELA; 80. CD predecessors, LPS; 81. Place to watch Truffaut, e.g., CINE; 85. Get up, ARISE; 87. Conditions, IFS; 89. “Cheers”, SKOAL; 90. ROTO-Rooter; 95 Film character known for her buns, LEIA; 98. SYD Hoff who wrote and illustrated “Danny and the Dinosaur”; 99. Like medieval Europe, FEUDAL; 108. Solzehnitsyn topic, GULAG; 108. Equal: Prefix, ISO; 108. Judge of Israel, in Judges, GIDEON; 111. It might hold the solution, FLASK; 116. Graceful women, SYLPHS; 121. Pigtails, e.g., PLAITS; 122. Out for someone on the inside, PAROLE; 123. 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics host, AUSTRIA; 124. Don Quixote’s squire, SANCHO; 125. Ran off, SHOOED; 126. Showy streakers, METEORS.

Down: 1. Jet-setter’s jets, once, SSTS; 2. Blogger’s preface, IMHO; 3. “The Seven Joys of Mary,” e.g., NOEL; 4. Part of Lawrence Welk’s intro, A TWO; 5. Popular laptop, THINK PAD; 8. Tract for a tribe, briefly, REZ; 7. “The Passion of Christ” language, ARAMAIC; 8. Donna Summer #1 hit, BAD GIRLS; 9. Those muchachos, ESOS; 10. Call, as a game, REF; 11. “On This Night of a Thousand Stars” musical, EVITA; 12. UPS rival, FED EX; 13. Certain Caribbean, for short, TRINI; 14. Home of the Palace of Nations, GENEVA; 15. Like the stranger in Camus’s “The Stranger”, AMORAL; 16. D.C. V.I.P., SEN; 17. Luca BRASI, “The Godfather” character; 18. “We AIM TO please”; 19. Collect slowly, GLEAN; 24. 7’4” former N.B.A. star RIK Smits; 29. DELI meat; 32. Farm layer, HEN; 33. Comic TIM Conway; 34. Art exhibition hall, SALON; 35. List heading, TO DO; 36. Autobahn auto, AUDI; 37. Global warming panel concern, ICE CAP; 39. Faction, BLOC; 41. 1960s-’80s Red Sox nickname, YAZ; 42. Too, in Toulon, AUSSI; 43. Former Irish P.M. EAMON de Valera; 44. Having heat?, ARMED; 45. Thai neighbor, LAO; 47. Offering at some bars, SUSHI; 48. Taiwanese computer maker, ACER; 49. “Get THIS!”; 53. Corolla part, PETAL; 55. Synthetic fiber, ARNEL; 56. “Holy cow!”, YOWZA; 59. Civil rights org., NAACP; 62. One running a hot business?, FENCE; 68. Bit of gossip, ON DIT; 68. At attention, ERECT; 69. Chip dip, SALSA; 70. Got in illicitly, HACKED; 71. Almost closed, AJAR; 72. Lancelot portrayer, 1967, NERO; 77. Capri, e.g., ISOLA; 78. N.Y.C. bus insignia, MTA; 79. Baby, TINY; 82. “The Bridges of Madison County” setting, IOWA; 93. Get exactly right, NAIL; 84. Loop loopers, ELS; 89. Had ants in one’s pants, FIDGETED; 89. High-scoring baseball game, SLUG-FEST; 91. MAUD Adams of “Octopussy”; 92. Land that’s largely desert: Abbr., ISR; 93. Lions or Bears, NFL TEAM; 94. Narc’s org., DEA; 96. Pizza slice, usually, EIGHTH; 97. “Yes, indeed”, IT IS SO; 100. Features of Castilian speech, LISPS; 101. Refuges, ASYLA; 102. “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” family name, NOLAN; 103. Brings in, REAPS; 105. January, in Jalisco, ENERO; 107. Seat, slangily, USH; 110. Marketing leader?, TELE; 112. Suffix with electo-, LYTE; 113. Sleek, for short, AERO; 114. Ado, STIR; 115. Big Korean exports, KIAS; 119. Try to win, WOO; 120, Morgue, for one, RUE.

The I’s have it! 

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